GLOBAL MINGA in defense of Mother Earth – CHANGE THE SYSTEM, NOT THE CLIMATE (12 October)

Minga Global: In every corner of the planet, those of us who want to save the life are raising our voices against capitalist aggression expressed in the looting and the commodification of life. Because we know that other worlds are not only urgent: they are, above all, possible. And we are building them.

From the 12th till the 16th of 2009. In every corner of the planet, those of us who want to save the life are raising our voices against capitalist aggression expressed in the looting and the commodification of life. Because we know that other worlds are not only urgent: they are, above all, possible. And we are building them.

The Earth is a live being and is seriously ill. We, her inhabitants, are those who are affecting her with the virus of developmentalism. We inhabit an ocean called the atmosphere, as fish live in water. Without it, there would be no life, because it contains oxygen and water, together with the forests and rains that give sustenance to live beings. But we are affecting her terribly.

The Pachamama generates climate phenomena to heal herself from global warming and she seeks a new balance that many life forms cannot tolerate. If we don’t change course, the global temperature will increase by 2ºC in a few years and the cataclysms will be uncontrollable. It will be the greatest social-environmental climatic catastrophe of human history.

Technological advances, thousands of industries, millions of vehicles, generate huge amounts of gases that contaminate and endanger the stability of life. Greed for profit and accumulation, the individualism of capitalism, have brought about a deep financial, economic, productive, social, cultural, racial and religious crisis. The speculative financial bubble, structural unemployment, social exclusion, global warming, cultural shock, racist violence and religious fanaticism, all simultaneously.

So many and such deep simultaneous crises form an authentic crisis of civilization itself: a crisis of the myth and the snare of “capitalist development and modernity”; of Eurocentrism, with its one-nation state, cultural homogeneity, Western positive law, developmentalism and commercialization.

Does this mean that we have lost the capacity to coexist with the planet? Has the time to change come? The Mother Earth will transform and save herself: our challenge is to save ourselves. This means taking urgent measures.

We, the indigenous peoples, for thousands of years have built civilizations based on balance and harmony between human beings and Mother Nature. For that reason, we knew how to conserve biodiversity and to produce foods essential for humanity, in societies without exploitation. Today we offer our values, our practices and our knowledge to save the planet; wthout capitalist imposition, destruction nor contamination.

Responding to this historic challenge and fulfilling the mandate of the 4th Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala, we CALL FOR the Global Minga*/Mobilization in Defense of Mother Earth and the Peoples, against the commodification of life (foodstuffs, water, biodiversity, natural goods); contamination and depredation (by mining, hydrocarbons, hydroelectric projects, logging, cattle ranches, agrofuels, GMOs); consumerism and criminalization of social struggle; and for setting up the Tribunal of Climate Justice.

From October 12 to 16, in every corner of the planet, all those who want to save life will raise our voices against capitalist aggression, expressed in the pillage and commodification of life. Because we know that other worlds are not only urgent: they are, above all, possible. And we are already building them.

• To fight for the continuation of life, for being at peace with the Earth, for the Greater Law, for natural goods and spirituality linked to the Pachamama, collective rights, natural laws, water for the future generations.

• To raise awareness in society on the necessity of coexisting with Nature, in balance with her.

• To raise an alert about the imminent danger of an environmental catastrophe that threatens the planet and to point to those responsible: global capitalism, transnational companies and complicit States.

• To demonstrate that it is possible to respond to this change from the proposals and practices of our peoples, in harmony and reciprocity with Mother Nature: with Good Living, plurinational States and an integration model based on fairness, reciprocity and complementariness.

• To denounce neoliberal capitalism, that criminalizes social protest in order to impose the pillage and depredation of Mother Nature.

• To demand amnesty for all indigenous and social leaders and environmental activists who are on trial for defending the rights of the peoples and of Mother Nature.

• To implant the Tribunal of Climate Justice (Cochabamba, Bolivia, October 13 and 14), to judge transnational companies and complicit States, as the first step towards an International Tribunal on Environmental Crimes.

• To open up the debate on the crisis of capitalist civilization, with the proposal of the indigenous peoples, so as to halt climate catastrophe.

Activities

• Manifestos by a wide range of organizations of indigenous and social movements, with alternatives to halt global climate and environmental catastrophe.

• A memorial with concrete proposals to present to the Convention on Climate Change, Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN, Inter-American Commission on Human rights and similar organizations of other continents.

• Mobilizations around the world (in urban and rural communities), for specific demands, at the local and national level, and the common goal of the Global “Minga”.

• Sit-ins in front of UN offices and those of transnational companies in the extractive sector (hydrocarbons, mining, logging, water), and those of agrofuels and GMOs.

• Discussion forums and cultural or political rallies around defense of Mother Earth and the peoples, against the commodification of life, contamination and social criminalization.

85% of the gas emissions responsible for the green-house effect that causes global warming are generated in the richest countries. Only 3% in Latin America. But the harmful effects such as flooding and droughts hit the poorest countries hardest. Thus, developed countries have brought about a series of imbalances in poorer countries, which is the origin of the ecological debt owed to our peoples.

The model of irrational exploitation of natural goods is to blame, since it is imposed worldwide, devastating human rights, the collective rights of peoples and those of Mother Nature, creating imbalance.

For this reason, in accordance with the mandate of the 4th Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala, in alliance with a broad network of social movements and organizations from all around the planet, we are building the Tribunal of Climate Justice, to morally judge those who cause the environmental crisis. It will be installed on October 13 and 14 in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

The Tribunal of Climate Justice will make it possible to morally identify and impugn the transnational companies and complicit States that pillage natural goods and undermine the rights of the peoples and of Mother Nature. And it is a first step towards the creation of an International Tribunal of Environmental Justice, along the lines of the Court of The Hague.

Moreover, the Tribunal will give visibility to the cause-effect relation between the extractive corporate model of development imposed by transnational companies and climate change. The Tribunal will pass ethical judgment on those responsible for the ecological debt, caused by the consumerism that turns biodiversity into commodities.